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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Knicks Losing Streak Hits 7

This was a rough game to watch for fans of either team, but
it hurt a little more for Knicks fans as they fell to the Pistons 96-85 Monday
night. The Knicks didn’t not put forth the effort once again and were once
again embarrassed by their opponent. The focus and attention to detail just are
not there for this team as a playoff run looks as out of the question as ever
now. They have completely collapsed after a strong January and look to just be
going through the motions as the positives needed to win basketball games are
coming far too sporadically for this team. The Knicks losing streak now hits
seven as they have lost 13 of their last 15 games and fall to 21-40.

Player of the Game: None

There was no Knicks player that brought it on both ends of
the court tonight. The closest person was Jeremy Tyler, who came in and
continued to give the energy and competitiveness he has shown all season. With
the season all but down the drain he should see his minutes increase. You could
also say that Shannon Brown and Earl Clark were players of the game as they
didn’t give any negative plays to the Knicks on the court being stapled to the
bench and receiving DNP-Coach Decision.

-Positives

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Amar’e Stoudemire was inserted into the starting five and he
responded in a big way. Stoudemire poured in 22 points as he had it going all
night offensively. He was able to attack the rim and knock down his jump shots
when they were presented to him. When Stoudemire is able to get consistent
minutes he looks spry and is extremely effective on the offensive end. He also
added six rebounds tonight.

Carmelo Anthony didn’t let Stoudemire have all the fun
offensively, scoring 28 of his own points. Anthony and Stoudemire looked like
the tandem they were supposed to be when the Knicks traded for Anthony. Anthony
added five rebounds, two assists and three steals. When your offensive weapons
combined for 50 points you would expect to be more in the game than the Knicks
were.

-Negatives

The Knicks were an abomination in the rebounding department
tonight. The Pistons dominated the boards, out rebounding the Knicks 54-40. The
Pistons hurt the Knicks on the offensive glass, as they resulted in easy
baskets for the Pistons big men. Andre Drummond was a one-man wrecking crew
rebounding for the Pistons as he grabbed a career-high 26; seven offensive and
18 defensive. Tyson Chandler grabbed 18 for the Knicks but he did not impact
the game as much as Drummond as he missed multiple point blank shots at the rim
on his put-backs.

With Stoudemire and J.R. Smith being inserted into the
starting lineup, the bench lost a lot of punch offensively. Tonight the bench
was unable to keep up with the bench of the Pistons, as they were outscored
36-7. Overall it was a tough go at it offensively for the Knicks, who shot 38.6
percent overall from the floor. The team looked out of sync outside of the
first quarter, turning the ball over 17 times and showing no semblance of an
offense. Too often a player would take the ball up, dribble multiple times and
hoist up a shot without making a pass or even starting the offense.

For much of the season the guard play has really let the
Knicks down and it continued tonight. Tonight it was hard to watch as all the
guards combined to shoot 9-41 from the field. What makes it worse is Smith
missed his first 10 shots of the game; he only got going once the game was
decided. He finished the game 2-17, Raymond Felton was 1-9, Pablo Prigioni was
1-2, Iman Shumpert 2-7 and Tim Hardaway Jr. was 0-6. Hardaway Jr. may have had
the most disappointing night of the bunch, as he gave nothing else on the
court, recording only one assist as his only other registered stat.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

How Mike Woodson sits on the sideline and doesn’t make
changes is mind-boggling. He has players like Tyler and Toure’ Murry that have
shown time and time again that when they are inserted into the game they will
bring energy every night. Surround that with the right lineup and things start
looking like a Knicks team fans have missed all season. Instead he sticks with
lineups and rotations that have not worked, making it hard to continue watching
this team play and giving little hope of closing the season out on a high note.